The Card Cultivation System
CCS-223

Xika patted Wu Liao's back awkwardly. He did not expect that this girl would hug him suddenly like that. Then, his eyes caught another movement on the Main Road. Xinglin. The girl saw them. He must have misunderstood.

"Xinelli!"

Taps!

Taps!

Taps!

The girl did not stop her steps at all. Xika tried to free herself from Wu Liao, but the girl refused.

"Xinelli! Waitaminute! It's not what you think!"

It's pointless. The girl did not seem to hear her words at all. Xika lowered Wu Liao's hand from her waist, but the girl hugged him back.

"Wu Liao, please! I have to go after him."

"Why?"

"What?"

"Why? Why are you chasing him? Why can't you see me? What does he have that I don't have? What do I do to make you see me? What exactly is my fault?"

And Xika's face changed. He breathed violently. Wu Liao released his embrace to look at Xika's face and found himself heartbroken to see the expression attached on Xika's face. He could not describe that expression. Some expressions are too difficult to describe. But he felt pain when he saw it.

"What's? What wrong? Why do you keep treating me like this? Was I never even in your heart?"

Xika closed her eyes slowly, just like Heiliao used to do. He took a deep breath before opening his eyes. He found Wu Liao looking at him with a complicated expression. Hope, disappointment, sadness, and most visibly, confusion.

"You're not wrong. I was wrong for wishing you more."

Xika's words were like a crushing blow to Wu Liao.

"But....but why? I didn't do anything!"

"Some say, a good man who does nothing is a bad man."

Once again, Xika managed to stab Wu Liao in the heart.

"No, wait. As I recall you did one thing," Xika looked at Wu Liao. Then his feet stepped back. "This is what you do."

Wu Liao shook his head.

"You're stepping back."

"No! I-I didn't mean......" Wu Liao was silent. He cannot continue his words.

"Before you asked me if you were ever in my heart. The answer is, almost. You almost opened it. Unfortunately, you stepped back. Remember, one step back that you took that day, you can't make up for whatever step you take in the future. What do you have to do to make me see you? There's none. You're not gonna make me see you."

"........................"

"Why did you save me then? Why don't you just leave me alone from the beginning? Why bother to save me?"

"Eitherway. I don't think I should be helping you."

Wu Liao was very hopeful that Xika did just that because he had subconsciously managed to get into Xika's heart. But it seems that it was just Xika's fault. Or maybe just a little bit of Xika's pity on him.

"Are you sorry to help me?"

"...................it seems so."

Xika walked away, taking the same direction as Xingli. Wu Liao shed his tears. He tried to hold it in, but the droplets slowly piled up to be unstoppable and eventually became a stream filled with sadness.

"What about the girl? What's he doing? Why do you always see him? Was it in your heart from the beginning?" asked Wu Liao. He asked what he had thought long enough.

The tep!

Xika was silent for a moment. Then stepped forward again, ignoring Wu Liao completely.

--------------------------------------

He arrived in front of the gate of the Jade Village and opened it. Blank. No lights on. Heiliao and Huo Bing had hardly ever turned on the lights even at night. But usually Xingli turned on the lights even during the day.

What did that girl do? He should have arrived not long after the girl, right? Why wasn't the girl waiting for him? Sometimes Xingli liked to leave the door of her room open, for some reason. But now the girl's room door was tightly shut.

Xika approached the girl's room. He was about to knock on the door, but his hand was just floating in front of the door. What's he doing? What would he say? Explain everything? Will Xingli listen? Why should he explain it?

Wu Liao's question was still ringing in his head. He managed to clarify his relationship with Wu Liao. Now they are nothing more than strangers who have met several times. What about Xingli? Who was that girl to him? Is that girl in his heart?

After being silent for quite a while, Xika lowered her hand. He stepped into his room.

Bruk!

He immediately threw his body into the bed. His body is not in good shape at the moment. Despite only receiving a few attacks from Hua Zhantian, but each attack managed to injure him quite severely. But all of this was not in proportion to his heart. His feelings are still chaotic. Much more messed up than his body.

Today he broke a girl's heart. An impossible thing even in his dreams for himself many years ago. At Shaking Card, no one likes it. In the town near the clan, no one liked him. He has no friends, let alone a girlfriend. No girl likes him.

But now it's different. He was much different than his old self. Now many girls like it. And he broke one of them. He often got the gazes of various girls in the Academy. They put admiration in their eyes. He could hear their laughter and their timid expressions every time he passed them.

But there was no sincerity in their eyes. He can feel it. They like it just because it is strong. Because he's talented. Because he has other achievements, so they like him. What if he doesn't have all that stuff? It will be the same as it was in the Shaking Card.

Because people are basically the same in this world. They just like what is useful to them. What about Xingli? Is that girl the same as any other human being? Honestly, he doesn't know.

What does that girl mean to him?

Xingli was a colleague. That was all he could think of right now.

Wu Liao's words again flashed in his head.

*"What about the *girl? What's he doing? Why do you always see him? Was it in your heart from the beginning?"

What did Xingli do?

Xika's thoughts floated back when she faced Heiliao. The girl pointed her sword at Heiliao after seeing the messy aura of Xika.

It shows care. The care that Xika had not received for a long time from others.

The girl also showed her back to Xika. Beliefs. The girl gave him confidence. That was what Xingli did to make Xika always look at him.

To him, Xingli was an irreplaceable companion. Besides those? He doesn't know. Did he expect more? He was delighted as the notoriously cold Xingli hugged him. He was delighted when the girl shed her tears at Xika while others never even saw Xingli express himself. What does all that mean?

Was he just happy that there was a beautiful girl hugging him? Or more than that? To be honest, Xika really did not know.

Who is she according to the girl? How did the girl think of him? Did the girl also consider him a partner? Or more?

They promised not to leave each other. What does that mean?

I don't know. Too many questions. Too many things happened today. Xika thought about the questions one after another repeatedly in her head, until finally her eyelids felt heavy and she fell asleep. Even in his dreams, those questions kept coming up.

He woke up because the sunlight was shining directly into his eyes. His mind was still as disheveled as yesterday, but his body was already better, a little.

He opened the door only to see the same scene as last night. Blank. Heiliao and Huo Bing seemed to be still busy cultivating and competing with each other. While Xingli. The room lights are still off. Whether the girl is still in her room or not.

He was about to meet Huo Bing or Heiliao, but he was not in a good mood to talk. So he stepped into the library. Books can always calm her feelings. In times of dizziness like this, he likes to read books, so his mind can be distracted for a moment.

On the road to the library, the streets were filled with many people. Some of them don't wear Academy uniforms. It seemed that they were from another clan and it was likely that they were his opponents. Hopefully they don't cause any problems. Not on her. He was lazy to serve them.

So Xika turned her body and chose to take another path towards the library even though it was longer. But one of the crowd moved towards him.

"Please wait a minute!"

Is that guy talking to her? Nope, no. Just ignore. Pretend you didn't hear it.

But the stranger was stubborn. He ran to chase Xika.

"Attent. Are you Xing Xika?"

"..............."